CHICAGO (CBS) — A young Chicago woman may have found a clue that will lead to the arrest of her father’s suspected killer. She found it on the Internet, on the suspect’s MySpace page. CBS 2′s Mike Parker reports.
In the days since her father’s death in an armed robbery, Megan Lytle has been doing whatever she could think of to aid police in the manhunt for the killer. Now, she thinks she’s found something valuable.
Reagan Lytle, 54, of Kentucky was visiting family in the Chicago area in April. He was staying in a Days Inn motel in south suburban Lansing.
Police say a man and woman forced their way into his room, took a handful of cash, then shot and killed him.
Lavashia Conner of Crown Point, Indiana has been arrested and charged with murder and armed robbery. Her alleged accomplice, 27-year-old Lawrence K. Coffee is still on the run. He is the subject of a nationwide manhunt.
Now the murdered man’s daughter, Megan Lytle, has discovered that suspect Coffee has a MySpace page with a strange photo of the wanted man. He is posing in front of what appears to be a jail or prison cell.
“Yeah, like he’s proud of it,” said Megan.
She discovered something else on the website, a notation that suggests Coffee logged onto his home page on Monday, May 17.
A computer science expert says, “It should be possible to backtrace the origin. If the login was from a personal computer, then the IP address of that machine should be right there.”
Megan Lytle says, “Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t, but it wouldn’t hurt to bring it to someone’s attention.”
When Lansing detectives were told of the find, they had no comment. They said they could not discuss the steps they’re taking to locate suspect Coffee.
The computer science expert says tracing the location of Coffee’s computer is “not a simple process, but neither is it too hard.”
Lansing detectives may get some high-tech help. They’re being assisted by the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force.
Lansing Police Lt. Dan Sylvester says Coffee’s most easily identified feature is a tattoo on the right side of his neck, depicting a pair of praying hands.
Megan Lytle is eager for an arrest. In her words, “The malice and rapacity in this situation is just ridiculous. Why do you need to kill someone over $80?”
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.